On Design 74: Neave Brown’s vision for London

15

15

00:00 / 00:00

/

18 January 2018

07 minutes

The UK is facing a housing crisis, with no immediate solution in sight. The work of Neave Brown, who died last week aged 88, reminds us of the social values (as well as comely buildings) that are the legacy of modernism.

Monocle on Design - latest episodes

Comic-book fans are mourning the passing of Stan Lee, who helped to make a niche industry popular and lucrative. We discuss the growing appreciation of graphics and ask whether comic-book illustrators are due more recogn…

Steve Jobs once said ‘Design is how it works’ – and it was a mantra that became a cornerstone in the success of iPhone. This week, as Apple launches its new iPad Pro (the latest in a long line of recent releases), we look…

What can designers learn from artists – and where does one discipline end and the other begin? We sit down with Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson to find out. Plus: London-based watchmaker Uniform Wares on keeping…

It’s been a turbulent few months for Nashville’s Gibson guitars, which has just announced former Levi’s president James Curleigh as its new CEO. That’s music to the ears of fans of the ailing brand, with a proposed revamp…

Fifty years since the first residents moved in, we explore life in London’s much-discussed brutalist housing complex. Plus: a tour of Sweden’s newly reopened National Museum after a five-year transformation.

“Bricks and mortar” is a phrase that evokes feelings of safety, reliability and permanence – but do these ancient materials pass muster in a world of sparkling glass towers? One architecture firm we spoke to thinks so.…

We ask what designers dream up when they put animals at the centre of their thinking, see the silkscreen printers pushing on in Beirut and visit a Stirling prize-winning building to augur the future of the news industry.

The Centre Point building has been a firm fixture of the London skyline since its completion in 1966. Designed by George Marsh, its 33 storeys have remained virtually empty ever since. Together with Conran + Partners,…

We peek inside the innovative Berlin-based design company that’s developing pollution-eating façades to tackle city smog. Plus: Mexican architect Frida Escobedo on her love of traditional materials and a discussion on the…

We look at the ups and downs of ‘hostile’ or ‘defensive’ architecture, those prickly interventions designed to curb anti-social behaviour, vandalism and lingering. Plus: a new book about weaving and a special dispatch from…

Public space in cities is increasingly scarce, we seek out an example in Lebanon that’s getting it right. Plus: Monocle’s Fashion editor Jamie Waters on why Celine’s new creative director is causing a stir and a report on…

We discuss the reluctant father of postmodernism and his life and work partner, Denise Scott Brown. Venturi redefined not only how buildings should look but how we should think about architecture’s role in the world.